"Never Comes the Day" is a 1969 single by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

. It was written by band member

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

, and was the only single released from their 1969 album ''

On the Threshold of a Dream ''On the Threshold of a Dream'' is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released in April 1969 on the Deram label. Content The album begins with a poem accompanied by electronic sounds, and these sounds also appear at the close of the album ...

''.

Background

The song was edited from the album version of 4:43 down to 2:42. The single edit omits the second verse and simply goes into the longer chorus after the first verse. A similar edit was done on the Justin Hayward/John Lodge (Blue Jays) song "I Dreamed Last Night", but that version ends cold. Despite the fact that the album was a number-one hit in the UK, "Never Comes the Day" was a commercial flop as a single, and did not chart in the UK. The single also included

Mike Pinder Michael Thomas Pinder (born 27 December 1941) is an English rock musician, and is a founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album ''O ...

's " So Deep Within You," another track from the same album, on the B-side.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "starting in a gentle

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

vein" with less impact than expected, but then grows to become an "hypnotic outing." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that "This soft and sweet art -rock picks up halfway through and could be the biggest yet for the group."

Personnel

– acoustic & electric guitars, lead vocals,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, handclapping * John Lodge – bass guitar, backing vocals, handclapping *

–

, backing vocals, handclapping *

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Night ...

– harmonica, backing vocals, handclapping *

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as t ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals, handclapping

Chart positions

References

The Moody Blues songs 1969 singles Songs written by Justin Hayward 1969 songs Deram Records singles {{1960s-song-stub